Please post if you have any feedback or recommendations for my stay in Valencia!

If you have specific questions about Valencia or want to meet up for a coffee, drop me a private message. As far as recommendations, be sure to try horchata and paella while you're in Valencia. I don't know how you're planning on getting around the city, but I'd get a bonobus (available from any newsagents). For an initial investment of 2€ in a card, you basically get half-price on busses. They mainly stick to city limits, but the number 25 goes out to the villages to the south-east, and if you want a really good paella then El Palmar is the village to visit.

One thing which you probably wouldn't realise until it was too late: next Monday (15th August) is a public holiday in Spain. That means that 99% of the supermarkets will be shut. Make sure you buy enough food on Saturday to last you through to Tuesday.

I don't think anyone over six years old learns new languages quickly and easily, but learning when you're older helps you see the amazing mechanics of language. It's a communal map of the human brain. Besides living in a Spanish speaking environment, and taking courses, learning songs and lyrics (particularly boleros because they are slowly sung like ballads) will help. Luis Miguel had a very popular disc dedicated to boleros a few years ago. Download it, find the lyrics in Spanish on line and find a English translation if you need them. Listen to the songs and follow the lyrics in writing. If you like female singers, Claudia Acuña sings slowly and accurately like any great ballad singer, and you can do the same with her songs.